For several years now the budgets of Formula 1 have been capped and audited. The budget ceiling for 2026 rose to 215 million dollars due to the regulatory change, from the 135 million set so far. But still, there are people for whom the numbers don’t add up. Especially, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso.
After the Austrian Grand Prix, the two Spanish Formula 1 drivers expressed doubts about the pace of upgrades in the competition. And while Aston Martin and Williams have chosen to delay updates to protect the budget ceiling, other teams are adding improvements at every race.
“Perhaps the rivals have a money-making machine”
Fernando Alonso could not believe what he saw at the Red Bull Ring. While Aston Martin remains with the same car they started the season with, most of their rivals kept adding new parts to their cars, something that has quite irritated the Asturian driver. Especially due to one matter: the budget cap.
Alonso says that “it’s surprising to check the FIA’s page every Friday. It seems we don’t have unlimited money for upgrades like the other teams. Maybe they have the money-making machine at the factory.” And Adrian Newey opted not to add upgrades to the Aston Martin until Hungary to safeguard the budget limit.
What’s curious is that Alonso isn’t the only one noticing this. Also Carlos Sainz, the other Spanish driver, has his eye on what’s happening in Formula 1: “I agree with what Fernando said. We’re very surprised by the number of upgrades that the top teams bring,” stated the Madrid-born driver.
Sainz explains that “if it were up to us, we would bring more upgrades, but there is a spending cap. I don’t know how the top teams do it; they must be more efficient, because they bring upgrades at every race“. Williams has had a new car for weeks, but they are rolling it out gradually to amortize old parts.
It will be at Silverstone, at home, where Williams is theoretically set to introduce its big upgrade package, but from Grove they hint that there won’t be room for much more this year. “We are strategic, but it feels to me that the others aren’t. They simply bring whatever they have as soon as they have it,” concludes Sainz.
Perhaps at the end of the year, when the FIA audits the teams’ accounts, we might find some surprises in the budget caps.
Images | Formula 1
